Joel Egbert was baking a cake when it happened. He had just been mixing the batter when he heard a strange sound. He put the batter down and turned to look for whatever had caused the noise.
There was nothing out of place except for the fact that a boy who looked suspiciously like his son stood in the middle of the kitchen, garbed in strange blue robes, staring at him with a mixture of shock and confusion.
"What?" the boy finally managed to breathe out. His voice was shaking with extreme emotion, and the next word seemed to tear the boy in two.
"Dad?"
Joel dropped the spoon that had been caught in his bone-shattering grip and it clattered to the ground, the sound unnaturally loud in the stifling silence of the kitchen.
"Son?" he asked, because he couldn't believe it, it had to be a prank, that boy was so old, so much older than his son, and he looked so broken. An ugly bruise adorned the left side of his face which marred his boy's handsome features. And his eyes, oh dear lord, his eyes. His boy's normal crystal-blue eyes were dark, darker than any child should ever have, and there's so much pain and suffering in those eyes, but he also saw the faintest hint of hope in them.
He looked just like a soldier straight off of the battlefield.
And then he ran forward and embraced his old man in a hug and it felt so good. His boy hadn't hugged him that hard since he was seven.
He felt the wetness of tears on his shirt, and even if he had no idea what was going on, he was going to be there for his son.
"I-" he began, and his voice cracked, "I missed you so much."
Joel let go of his boy's desperate arms so he could look at how much his little boy had grown. His face was less round, less boyish, and he was still wearing the thick glasses he had never been seen without, though they looked like someone had just taped them together.
"John," he murmured, "Oh my boy, what happened to you?"
John cracked a small smile, and for a second he saw the boy he had raised, the one who made terrible jokes all the time, but he always would laugh because he was his boy.
"Tends to happen when you fight evil green alien dudes."
Well then.
"Dad?" he asked, his voice full of poorly-concealed emotion.
"Yes?"
"I'm scared." And though Joel would never admit it, he was too. He was scared for his boy.
John looked like he wanted to say more, but a faint blue glow began to surround him.
"I love you."
And Joel can barely breathe, his voice was caught in the back of his throat.
"And I am so so sorry."
And all Joel could think to say was, "It'll be okay."
And then his boy was gone, leaving him alone with him and his thoughts.
When John got home from school later, he simply wished his son a happy birthday and went back to baking his cake.
It was April 13, 2009, and that was the last time he ever talked to his son.
(It's April 13, 2012, and you finally got to say you're sorry)
One does not simply walk away from a fight with the Lord of Time unscathed. And for Dad's name, Joel is a very gentleman-like name to me plus fits the 4-letter rule and fits the J's of the Egbert/Crocker/Harley/English family tree This idea spawned a while ago, and it wouldn't leave me alone. If I got any tenses wrong WHATEVER I AM SICK OF LOOKING AT THIS DOCUMENT. ANYWAYS this happens before the whole 'There's no place like home' thing soooo yeah John still has no idea what he's doing. And if he seems out of character, I've always seen John as the rock of the group sorta. I mean, the kid had to be devastated but he had to help Rose and Roxy that he had no time to deal with his own grief. And seeing your dead father is sure to bring up some old feelings I'm sure. Also, consider this: GCAT is the DNA code right? Well EB (Ethidium Bromide) fits between the base pairs of DNA and makes them visible by dying it blue. Just some food for thought
EDIT 5/4/15 Fixed some tenses and made the dialogue smoother
Homestuck © Andrew Hussie